As with any game that uses some licensed property, the cost to maintain those licenses (and therefore the rights to sell a game that uses them) vs the amount of income those games bring in is tricky. Last year, the remasters of Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its sequel (both of which had some issues) were pulled from marketplaces without much notice or explanation. Presumably this was due to Activision deciding to just give up the license once and for all, or perhaps a little negotiating was done in order to pave the way for the recently announced third installment in the series coming to the Switch sometime this year.
]]>Amazon is running a promo right now for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-Ray. The film comes out on March 19th - just over two weeks away and you can pre-order it for just $26 for the regular version or $30 to include the 3D version. Those are already pretty good prices for the combo packs - but there's an added bonus if you purchase LEGO Lord of the Rings too.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/9808/buy-lego-lord-of-the-rings-and-get-15-off-the-hobbit-on-blu-ray.htmlThe LEGO series is venerable, and a tremendous success by any measure. Brick environments and LEGO-ized heroes coupled with pop culture thematic material is a recipe for success. As the series has aged, new twists and tricks have been added to formula, and for the most part, these additions have kept the LEGO series good, maybe even very good, but not great. So does LEGO Lord of the Rings have what it takes to make the first truly great LEGO game?
Greetings Stranger. You have come far to listen to my tale; a tale of intrigue, adventure, LEGO and incorrectly printed discs on 360. Now my adventure is ready to play as LEGO: The Lord of the Rings has been launched in the US (EU will have to wait until November 23rd), and with it a series of new screens and a launch trailer. Good journey to you all!
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/9270/lego-lotr-the-fellowship-of-the-launch-trailer.htmlOpen up your Xbox 360 version of LEGO Lord of the Rings game at the store. It may be a demo. That's really all the news here. From Game Informer:
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/9256/psa-xbox-360-lego-lord-of-the-rings-discs-may-be-demos.htmlThe latest Lego Lord of the Rings trailer gives us a glimpse of the charming humor that has become a hallmark of the franchise. The Lego games have handled several beloved franchised remarkably well. We expect Travelers' Tales to treat the lore of LOTR with the same care.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/9186/silly-lego-lord-of-the-rings-video-knows-its-audience.htmlWe’ve been growing thin and stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread, waiting for the release of a great looking Lord of the Rings title to pass us by. Luckily for us, the LEGO Lord of the Rings release date has officially been announced, exciting us to try the new couch co-op relatively soon.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/9171/console-lego-lord-of-the-rings-release-date-announced.htmlAs the first in the highly anticipated series of movies based on Tolkien's The Hobbit approaches, so too does the marketing onslaught, like a horde or orcs and goblins invading the land. Later this fall, a video game tie in, LEGO Lord of the Rings, is headed to your Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii. Frodo, Gandalf, and the rest of the game look suitably adorable in glorious animated LEGO form.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/8919/lego-lord-of-the-rings-goes-open-world.htmlMany of us are still knee-deep in LEGO Batman 2, but Traveller's Tales is already hard at work doing the only thing they know: making another LEGO game. Luckily LEGO The Lord of the Rings looks just as ambitious as the last entry, with an amazing 85 characters and fully-voiced story sequences taken from the movies of the same name. One of those characters, Gollum, can be glimpsed in his kind of goofy-looking glory in this new batch of screenshots.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/8795/gollum-comes-out-of-hiding-in-these-lego-the-lord-of-the-rings-screens.htmlHey, do you know what we need? MORE LEGO GAMES! Every time I think the formula is over and done with a new franchise pops up and it still works surprisingly well. This latest trailer from, you guessed it, Gamescom 2012 features the LEGO The Lord of the Rings game.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/8765/lego-the-lord-of-the-rings-gamescom-2012-trailer.htmlNot much more to say - if you're headed to the San Diego Comic Con this weekend you should stop by and check out the LEGO The Lord of the Rings video game in all its co-op glory. If you aren't headed to sunny San Diego to schmooze it up with celebs, check out comics and cosplay, and get your hands on the latest video games - perhaps a handful of new screens from the game will make up for it.
]]> https://www.co-optimus.com/article/8599/new-lego-the-lord-of-the-rings-screens-from-sdcc.htmlThe LEGO series of games has been a staple of co-op since LEGO Star Wars debuted way back in 2005, and the latest releases are no different. Both LEGO Lord of the Rings and LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes are no different. They're loaded up with two-player local co-op, and we gave them both a quick spin.
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